Winter Blossoms
by LadyNaore
Summary: (AU, AeriSeph) Reposted and updated! Aeris had always hoped for a new life, away from the dark torment of the slums. She wanted to be swept away into a better place, but not like this...
1. Prologue

Winter Blossoms

By: Aeris

-.,.-Disclaimer: I'm only saying this once so listen up: I don't own FF7. I never did. I never will. Get over it. It's never gonna happen. So shut up and read already. ;)

And, this contains spoilers. Durr. I appreciate reviews very much; they make me write a lot faster too. Don't flame me saying how Aeri/Seph sucks and how it'll never happen because that makes you narrow-minded. It also makes you stupid in the fact of failing to notice the title of this site: FanFiction. It doesn't have to make sense.-.,.-

-.,.-.,.-.,.-.,.-.,.-

The air held a certain chill that night. It wasn't unusual for the wind to be cold, but… Aeris knew that this chill wasn't due to only temperature. Something else was hidden in the frosty bite. 

Yet she couldn't seem to figure out what it was. She leaned, elbows resting on her windowsill, peering out into the slum around her. It was a contrasting picture: there were her mysteriously beautiful flowers on one side, and yet on the other, piled garbage, shadows, lurking monsters, people cowering in the shadows, the homeless, the starving, the sick… it was a depressing sight to look at. Though this place was never thriving… why couldn't all of the underplate be like her flower garden? Light, cheerful, happy… full of life. Clean.

And yet, Aeris knew deep in her heart, those words could never be used to describe this desolate place, this area that she had grown attached to, and dared to call 'Home.' She knew that a place like this could only get worse, never better. The air would always hold that stench of death and rot, the breath of hopelessness. She sighed, tracing her fingertip along the glass.

The days were always like this. But usually, she didn't feel this strange emotion within her heart. She knew that Planet was trying to tell her something. It always was, yet this message seemed so urgent. She brooded in thought, attempting to piece together the puzzle of this mission she had yet to find.

Some time passed. She got up, grabbing her winter coat, her gloves, and her flower basket. She decided it did no good to sit around in thought all day. She was going out to attempt to make some money. She hadn't eaten since yesterday, after all. 

Aeris walked out the door, pulling it shut, not knowing the events fate had lain out for her on this day…


	2. Chapter 1: Frostbitten

Chapter One: Frost-bitten 

'Thoughts'

-.,.-.,.-.,.-

"Excuse me! Ah… oh, would you like to—? Uh, miss? Would you care to purchase…?" Aeris sighed, wrapping her coat tighter around her body, warding against the bitter November breeze. She hadn't made much of a profit—only about 10 gil total—and her flowers were beginning to wilt in the freezing air.

Yet she persisted. If she could make at least five more gil, she could buy enough food to get herself through the next two days…

…she saw him then. All previous thoughts fled her mind as she looked upon the seemingly-angel across the street. Long, silver hair framed his sharp features, glowing cat-like eyes set inside a face that looked to be made of stone. Never faltering, never giving in. He was clad in a black suit, with metal shoulder pads, which insisted he was a higher member in SOLDIER, if not the highest among ShinRa's elite forces. Fluttering behind him was a long black cloak, swaying in the chilly breeze, yet seeming enough to keep him very warm.

At that moment, Aeris both admired him, and envied him. When he caught her gaze, she quickly looked away, blushing furiously as she tried to continue business as usual.

It seemed to work, as he turned around and walked into the alleys. She sighed in relief. 'I wonder… wasn't that the famous General Sephiroth?' She blinked, and decided it best to carry on. "Flowers, one gil each! Unseasonably beautiful! Miss, would you care to buy some? …ah, Sir, would you like…"

Her vain attempts continued into the night, once the early sun had set, Aeris sighed in defeat, tightened her coat, and started to head home, taking a shortcut through a well-known alleyway.

-.,.-.,.-.,.-

'I really want to know why Sephiroth was in Midgar, among the common people…' Aeris mused as she walked through the shadows. 'I guess I'll never know now. I should have talked to him?' She paused, shook her head, and continued, 'Who am I kidding, he'd ignore a peasant like me. If anything I should have asked him to buy a flower…' 

Peering down at her basket, full of frozen, near-wilted flowers, she sighed heavily, 'I had barely enough money for dinner… I hope it keeps warm. I put it at the bottom of the basket, maybe the flowers will keep the cold off enough to get home.' She frowned, 'Oh my poor little beauties… I took your blossoming life away for nothing. I'm so sorry…' Aeris brushed her fingertip along a couple of the chilled petals, 'Return to the Planet.'

Sound broke the silence around her, and she stopped in her tracks, listening intently for any signs of life, predator or not. 

After a couple minutes of quiet, she continued walking, keeping her steps soft and as quiet as possible. 'Please don't let …whatever that noise was… catch up with me. I'm almost out…'

Suddenly, cold hands gripped her neck like a vice. She started screaming, and dropped her basket, its contents spilling onto the ground. She reached inside her coat and grabbed her staff. The attacker began to choke her, with one hand, as the other squeezed her hand around the staff. Aeris screamed louder; she could feel the small bones break, and when he finally let go, he snatched her staff and flung it into the shadows.

She heard him snicker, and she dared to ask, "What…do you want with me? I have no money, all I had was—"

She saw a shining blade of metal brought up under her nose, and she gasped in horror, as her attacker finally spoke: "I want none of the sort. I've only come for your life."

Her heart raced as the sword glided against the skin of her neck, before the mysterious predator shifted the sword in his grip and sunk it into her stomach, eliciting a choked gasp from Aeris' lips, blood flying forth from her wound and splattering on the dirty ground.

She became weak and her knees buckled, and the moment her murderer released her, she fell forward, eyes wide in numbed pain. She lay there for a moment, unaware of her surroundings now, and frankly, uncaring for that matter. Breath became labored for her, but then, the unexpected occurred. The very man who had dealt her life that fatal blow knelt beside her, and it was then that she saw him for who he was.

Long hair was billowed about his shoulders, and his eyes glowed with an unnatural light. He was clad in complete black, save the shining armor about his shoulders…

"Se…phi…roth…" She uttered a final word, before all words left her, and her last conscious feeling was that of someone picking her up, and cradling her in its arms. She could have sworn it was an angel, ready to sweep her away to her Promised Land…

But oh, how wrong she was…


	3. Chapter 2: Bitter

Chapter 2: Bitter

-.,.-.,.-.,.-

Drifting away. Drifting through nothing, with no senses, no idea of where she was… she couldn't see, hear, taste, sense, breathe… all she could do was drift. 'Where…am I?' Aeris thought to herself, confused. She couldn't remember what had happened. And she didn't know where she was, how she had gotten here… and why?

She tried to look around, but found that she couldn't open her eyes; they wouldn't budge. Not a muscle in her body would move. It felt like she was…

Almost as if…

She was…

Images of darkness flooded her mind, walking through a passageway, being attacked… she remembered the glint of a deadly blade, the fear, the blood…

And Planet… she remembered his cruel, heartless laugh. How that laugh had pierced her soul, gripped her spine in fear and paralyzed her body in its chilling tone. His face. She knew him. She knew that face, her murderer's face.

'…Sephiroth.' Her mind spat forth that name like poison; he was the reason she was floating here, alone, cold… dead. She hated him for all that he was for what he'd done to her. 

'Why did he kill me… what did I do…' she thought helplessly; her very soul was locked within her mind, the only part of her body still active. Her muscles were stiff, lungs still, heart silent, eyes shut… she was dead in nearly every sense.

Dead and floating in a void of nothingness. 

Suddenly light pierced the void… a light that seemed to wrap its warmth around her chilled body and renew her wrongfully ended life. Blood rushed through her veins, air surged into her lungs, her muscles jerked… then her eyes shot open.

And she saw him…

-.,.-.,.-.,.-

Sephiroth removed his palm from the girl's cool forehead and sat in silence as the spell did its work. He found himself looking into a pair of deep emerald eyes; eyes filled with shocked surprise… and he could have sworn she had a hint of loving hatred. 

Aeris could only blink in wild confusion as a flood of questions bombarded her mind at once.

She screamed suddenly and bolted up, hands shooting themselves around his neck. "Why did you kill me you bastard?!?!? And why the hell did you bring me back if you wanted me dead?!?! What do you want with me?!!? What do you want?? What…why… what did I do to deserve this??!?" She screamed each word with hateful passion, yelled them into his face, tears streaming down her face. And all he could do was look at her in silence, before grabbing her hands and squeezing hard. 

The only answer he could give her was a simple… "I don't know." He seemed as confused as she was.

She was freely crying now, sitting up on the ground looking down at her blood-stained dress. This man, the same one who a short while ago had murdered her, had revived her. She didn't understand it. She tried again. "Why… if you wanted me dead, why did you bring me back?? I would've just assumed you left me dead!" 

Again, he stared into her eyes, his unnatural eyes piercing deep into her soul, and he gave forth the same answer: "I don't know." He shook his head and looked down.

Aeris screamed, "You must know, or why would you have done it???"

Sephiroth looked up again, "I killed you?"

She was taken aback and screamed, "Yes! See this?" She pointed at her bloody fabric and yelled, "This is what you did to me!! You stabbed me to death!!" Her tear-stained face was red with fury, and she continued to holler at him, "You did this and I want to know why!!!"

He looked down at his hands; he was shaking, "I killed you…?" His eyes were wide with fearful confusion and he looked at her again, "Who…are you?"

She gasped, finally realizing that… he truly didn't know. After a few minutes of awkward silence she replied, "… Aeris."

Sephiroth sighed, "Aeris… I cannot answer because I simply don't know… the last thing I remember is going into the lab at ShinRa Headquarters."

Aeris looked puzzled, "The lab?"

He nodded, "Yes… I was looking at one of Professor Hojo's samples. I think it was called 'Jenova.'"

"Jenova…" Aeris shook her head, "I don't know what you're talking about. But if you don't know you killed me then do you know why you revived me at least?"

"I… I came to senses and saw you lying here, bloody dead… I didn't know what was going on. So I revived you." Sephiroth shook his head, "I didn't know I was the one who hurt you…"

She had stopped crying but now was just confused, but decided to keep quiet, for the best. She looked at him sadly, for he was just as confused as her.

-.,.-.,.-.,.-


	4. Chapter 3: Chilled

Chapter 3: Chilled

-.,.-.,.-.,.-

Steam billowed out of the spout on the teapot as Aeris gently poured the tea. '_How ironic,_' she thought, '_that I'm pouring tea for my somewhat-murderer_.' She glanced at him as he lifted the small cup to his lips, and inwardly sighed, '_He must be telling the truth._' 

They had retreated back to Aeris' house after the incident, to evade both attention and the chilling cold. Surprisingly, Elmyra had already gone to bed, claiming to have the flu, and Aeris had managed to sneak Sephiroth in with ease. She wondered, while doing this, if she would regret it later. And now she sat there, pouring tea for him as if all was right in the world.

Sephiroth, feeling her gaze upon him, met her eyes for a moment, before setting his cup down and bowing his head in regret. "Aeris, I'm truly sorry for what happened. But I do not understand _what_ happened back in that alley."

Aeris, with hands too shaky to even hold her cup, stared at his downward gaze with icy, emerald eyes. "You _killed_ me. I was walking through the alley, and you came up behind me… _strangled_ me… knocked away my weapon so I couldn't even _defend_ myself… then you shoved that..that…_SWORD_…through…" She could not continue. Aeris bowed her head in shame, trying to hide her tears, but failing. Her hands wrung the fabric of the dress she was now wearing; she had tossed her pink one in the bathtub, deciding to wash it at a more appropriate time. The blue flower-printed fabric was to suffer the wrath of her hands as she fought hard to control her flailing emotions, when suddenly she felt a strange warmth upon her shoulder. She glanced over to see Sephiroth's black-gloved hand gripping her shoulder in a meager attempt to comfort her. "Aeris…"

If Aeris had had the courage to look him in the face, she would see that he, too, was crying. Instead she kept her head bowed and listened to Sephiroth.

"Please, Aeris, calm down… please. I don't remember doing that, please, just let me explain… stop crying." He sighed; the fact that this girl was crying just made him feel even worse about what he had done." 

Aeris sniffed once, before lifting her head slightly and meeting his gaze, "Please, then, explain…" She took hold of her tea cup and held it tightly, as she prepared for what she was about to hear.

Sephiroth took a deep breath, and started.

-.,.-.,.-.,.-

_Sephiroth…_

_Sephiroth… come… to… me…_

My… son… 

The voice echoing through Sephiroth's mind only grew worse as he walked through the ShinRa lab. He never figured out just why he was there; it was almost as if he was being lured to the lab by an unseen siren.

_Sephiroth…_

_Come to your… Mother…_

He could not help himself; the voice had his mind in its icy grip. Sephiroth stopped in front of a large tank; above was a plaque that read…

"Jenova," Sephiroth whispered, when his pupils dilated and he lost consciousness, as Jenova possessed his body.

-.,.-.,.-.,.-

Aeris quivered, and her grip loosened on the tea cup; dozens of ceramic shards scattered about within a puddle of warm tea. She didn't notice. Her thoughts were frozen on one word: Jenova.

Jenova, the crisis from the sky.

Jenova, the killer of her people.

Jenova, who was coming for her.

Jenova.

Jenova was going to kill her now, as she had her mother. Aeris could no longer stand it. She fainted.

It was all Sephiroth could do to lunge from his chair and catch her in her fall.

Inwardly, he wondered how he had hurt her now.

And in the small crevice in his mind, the cave where Jenova lurked and grew much like a tumor, the demon laughed.


	5. Chapter 4: Ice

Chapter 4: Ice

-.,.-.,.-.,.-

She was aware of nothing more than the softness below her and the warmth above her. Aeris fluttered her eyes open. '_Was it all just a nightmare?_' She then realized she was laying on her bed, under the thick flower-printed blanket, but there seemed to be an extra layer…

'It can't be,' She thought.

Yes, it could. A warm black leather cloak lay covering her more than completely. It didn't take a genius to know it was Sephiroth's doing.

But it would take a genius to figure out why. Aeris searched the room with her eyes; no sign of Sephiroth. She slowly, almost reluctantly, got out of bed and draped Sephiroth's coat around her as she walked downstairs and resumed her search. 

She heard a shuffle of feet outside, and opened her door to find Sephiroth pacing in front of her house. He started when he saw her there, until finally he straightened his stance and walked over to her. He looked down, "Aeris, I am sorry for whatever I did under Jenova's control, and I hope that you can forgive me."

She looked at him, stunned, "I… forgive you, Sephiroth." She started to return his cloak to him, but Sephiroth stopped her.

"Keep it. It's the least I could do to repay you."

Aeris thought for a moment, more than a little shocked. 'Maybe he was telling the truth about everything… especially if Jenova comes into play…'

"Sephiroth… please come back inside, you'll catch your death of cold out here." She motioned for him to come inside, and reluctantly, he followed.

-.,.-.,.-.,.-

"You can sleep in here," Aeris opened the door to the guest room. Inside were a twin bed, empty dresser and a full-length mirror.

Sephiroth nodded to her, "Thank you for your kindness, Aeris. There will be a time where I will be able to repay you." He bowed, as Aeris shut the door and proceeded to her own room. Turning around, Sephiroth studied the contents of his new, quaint quarters. There was a twin bed in the corner, with sunflower-printed bed sheets and a light blue pillow. He noticed the flower-printed wallpaper, the shelves on the walls that held flowers inside, and on the opposite side of the window hung a flower box. He smiled to himself, shaking his head, not in the least bit surprised. She was a flower girl, after all.

Sephiroth flopped down onto the bed, hands folded on his stomach, and stared up at the wall. His mind was deep in thought, and worry. He didn't understand what was happening, but he knew two things: Jenova was the cause, and he must find a way to control himself. This of course meant he had to take care of this 'Jenova' once and for all. He wondered, then, why the girl had gotten so upset at the mention of its name?

Just what was this 'Jenova' creature? And how was it able to control him like that?

Sephiroth sighed. He knew that his plagued mind wasn't going to get any rest anytime soon. He stood up and walked to the window, peering out into the girl's flower garden. How was she able to do that? He had never, _ever_ seen a flower grow _anywhere_ in Midgar, let alone in the slums! This intrigued him. The girl… there was something about her. Something that called to him.

He then remembered when he had come out of Jenova's trance; when he saw the girl lying there, bloody and dead at his feet. He remembered how she felt in his arms, so light and soft. Her skin was so pure, and held the soft texture of a petal…

She had opened her eyes after his spell had done its work. He had looked into those eyes, and for a moment, he was lost within them. Such a beautiful green, so much like his own, and yet so very different…

Sephiroth then noticed a picture frame on the dresser next to the window. He picked it up and saw a small child standing beside what looked to be her mother. The child wore a frilly pink sundress and was holding a bouquet of sunflowers and daisies. Her mother stood behind her, smiling brightly. She wore a light blue sundress and was tying a pink ribbon into the girl's hair.

That girl, it had to be Aeris. 

-.,.-.,.-.,.-

Aeris laid on her side, curled up in the blankets and pillows, unable to sleep. She was much too afraid to consider it. Jenova was after her, there was no doubt. She decided to talk to her only friend…

'_Oh, Planet, please give me guidance… what must I do?_'

_My child… trust him. He will fight her, and you must assist him. _The Planet's voice wafted through her mind like a warm, gentle breeze, lifting up her soul and making her calm.

_'But, dear Planet, will he kill me again?'_

_…I cannot say, my daughter. But rest assured, things will always work out._

_'Is this the only way, dear friend?'_

_Yes. You will understand. But do not fear him. He is not the enemy. He also seeks the answers, and he seeks to destroy Jenova._

_'Planet, I hope you know what you are doing.'_

_Don't I always? _The Planet's laughter rang through her like a refreshing splash of water, and Aeris giggled.

_'I guess so, my friend. You seem to be planning something.'_

_Ah, my child, you know me too well I am afraid. For I do have a plan, but you shall see in time. _A comforting, warm feeling spread through Aeris' body, persuading her to close her eyes. _Sleep, my daughter. _

_Sleep…_

_You worry too much. Rest your sweet head and dream, for your wishes will come true very soon…_


End file.
